Ahead of the Duke of Sussex’s 40th birthday on Sunday, one of his friends has shared what he is really like and how “brainwashed” he is by wife Meghan Markle.

Prince Harry is “kind, funny and pretty damn normal”, says a close friend who praised the Duke’s remarkable global influence.

As the Duke of Sussex approaches his 40th birthday this Sunday, British journalist Bryony Gordon, who has known Harry since 2016, reveals what he and Meghan Markle are really like behind closed doors.

Writing for the Mail, Ms Gordon stated that she has been in touch with the Duke since the launch of The Heads Together campaign in May 2016 – a pioneering Royal initiative to end mental health stigma led by Prince Harry and the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Since then, the journalist has met with Harry on numerous occasions and now considers him and his wife Meghan as friends.

She shared: “Eight years ago I became friends with Prince Harry, and ever since life has been peppered with questions from people curious to know more about his character: has he been brainwashed, is he intent on bringing down the monarchy, does he smell of money, and so on and so forth.”, reports the Express.

She further added: ” I’ve heard a lot of fairly negative things said about him, character assassinations that bear no resemblance to the man I’ve come to count as a friend, the one who cares passionately about injured veterans, and who’s done more than most to change perceptions of mental health in this country.”

Ms Gordon has spilled the beans on what Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are like when the cameras aren’t rolling, after a personal visit to their Montecito residence just before the bombshell release of Harry’s tell-all book, Spare.

She revealed: “I spent an afternoon at the house, the kids running around happily as we drank tea. Harry proudly showed me the DIY photo wall he’d recently created, featuring pictures of his mum.”

Describing the Sussexes, she said they are “a pretty ordinary couple existing in an absolutely extraordinary situation.”

She recounted leaving with a jar of homemade jam from the couple, which she accidentally left in a taxi, noting that somewhere in Los Angeles, a cab driver is enjoying one of the first jars of American Riviera Orchard’s produce.

The journalist noted: “There are no airs or graces with them, no desire to do anything other than protect their children from an increasingly digital world that likes nothing more than seeing the worst in people.”

She added: “A world that forgets that no matter how high profile a person is, they’re just doing their best, like everyone else.”

Wrapping up her insights, Ms Gordon stated: “This is not what people want to hear, but it is what I’ve found, time and time again. So Happy 40th Birthday, Haz. May you continue to make a difference for the next 40 years, regardless of the naysayers.”